This post has been updated.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) admitted on Monday that he did not directly speak with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) about holding Armed Services Committee hearings on whether soldiers should be able to carry concealed weapons on military bases.
On Monday evening, McCain mocked Cruz’s claim that the two had spoken about the issue.
“I’d be glad to discuss the issue and see if we need a hearing, but it came as a complete surprise to me that he had been pressing me,” McCain said.
Cruz clarified on Tuesday that he spoke about the issue at Senate Armed Services Committee hearings, but not directly to McCain, the new chair of the committee.
“The question of concealed carry on military bases is an issue I raised repeatedly. I’ve raised it in open hearings of the Senate Armed Services Committee — hearings where John McCain was, I believe, present at those hearings,” Cruz said on Fox News. “And I also urged the prior chairman, Carl Levin, in writing, to hold hearings on allowing our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines to carry weapons on military bases.”
“I will acknowledge, I may have misspoken in New Hampshire when I said that I had been pressing John McCain, and what I had been pressing is the Armed Services Committee. And John McCain is the new chairman of it,” Cruz continued.
Cruz said he would raise the issue with McCain and keep pressing for hearings about Second Amendment rights on military bases.
“The committee ought to look at, listen to the military’s arguments. The military brass opposes this is,” Cruz said. “I’m a big believer defending Second Amendment rights of everyone including our soldiers.”
After Cruz admitted that he didn’t press McCain directly to pursue hearings, McCain published a tweet calling Cruz a “friend.”
Ted Cruz is a friend and valued member of the Senate Armed Services Committee
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) April 21, 2015
Watch the clip below:
